Transfer mechanism



L. D. SOUBIER.

TRANSFER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12, 1920.

1 5 263 Patented. Nov. M, 1922 Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

/ N ETE LEONARD D. SOUBIER, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE OWENSBOTTLE COMPANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TRANSFER MECHANISM.

Application filed February 12, 1920. Serial No. 358,027.

T 0 all who) it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD D. SoUnIER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Toledo. in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, haveinvented new and useful. Improvements in Transfer Mechanism, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus by which bottles or other articles aretransferred from one place to another. and by which they may be turnedfrom an inclined, inverted, or cumbent position and deposited in anupright position. An object of the invention is to provide a simple,practical and reliable apparatus by which bottles or the like as theyare delivered, for example, from a forming machine and slide down aninclined chute, may be received and placed in an upright position on acontinuously moving conveyor.

Other objects of the invention pear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a part sectional elevation of an apparatus embodying theprinciples'of my invention.

Figure 2 is a similar view, but with the parts in a different position.

Figure 3 is a section taken at the line III-J11 on Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the conveyor and a device for supporting thebottles or the like in upright position thereon.

Figure 5 is a similar view with the mechanism in a different position.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary end elevation of the apparatus.

Bottles 10 or other articles which may be delivered one by one to aninclined chute or trough 11. as for example. from a bottle blowingmachine, slide down said chute by gravity onto an inclined cradle orsupport 12 at the delivery end of the trough. The cradle is secured to ahorizontal rock shaft 13 and is tilted by the weight of the bottle 10from the Figure 1 position to the Figure 2 position, so that the bottleslides off the cradle and is received in upright position on an endlessconveyor 14 running over a sprocket wheel 15 mounted in a standard 16.The conveyor 14 may have a continuous movement and serves to carry thebottles into an annealing leer or other desired point.

(lo-operating with the cradle 12 is a shield or guide plate 18 in frontof the cradle in will apposition to support and guide the bottle to anupright position as it slides from the cradle and which prevents it frombeing tipped over as it comes to rest on the conveyor. The shield 18 isswung into position by the tilting movement of the cradle through thefollowing connections:

A rock arm 19 depending from the shaft 13 is connected at its lower endwith an arm 20 of a lever pivoted to swing about a vertical axis 21, theother arm 22 of'said lever being connected through a link 23 to one armof a lever 24 fulcrumed on a pivot pin 25. The other arm 26 of the lever24 carries the shield 18. It will be seen that through these connectionsthe shield 18 is swung forward from the Figure 5 position to the Figure4 position as the cradle swings downward, so that the bottom of thebottle as it slides off the cradle to the conveyor contacts with theshield and is guided downward, the bottle being then supported by saidshield and prevented from toppling over. As soon as the cradle isreleased from the weight of the bottle, a returning spring 27 returns itto the Figure 1 position and withdraws the shield 18 from the path ofthe bottle, so that the bottle may be advanced with the conveyor. Thespring 27 is anchored at one end in a rod 50 adjustable in a stationarybracket 51, whereby the tension of the spring may be adjusted to theweight of the article 10, so that a smooth, easy swinging movement ofthe cradle is secured.

The up and down tilting movements of the cradle 12 are limitedrespectively by stops 28 and 29 engaging a stationary stop pin 30. Thestop lugs 28 and 29 are preferably separately adjustable and for thispurpose are carried on rings' 31 secured by set screws in any rotativeposition of adjustment on the shaft 13, as shown in Figure 6.

The cradle or trough 12 comprises inclined sides '32 which arerelatively adjustable angularly about a connecting pintle 33 to vary theangle between the sides of the cradle. The parts are held in theiradjusted position by means of a clamping bolt 34 which extends throughthe are shaped slots 35 in the overlapping ends 36 of the cradle. Theadjusting means for the cradle and also for the stop positions of thecradle permit adjustment to accommodate various sizes and shapes ofbottles or other articles and also permit adjustment to correspond withthe position and height of the chute 11, etc.

A spring stop or bufier 40 is provided with a stem 41 slidably mountedin the base of the cradle and is yieldingly held in its projectedposition by a coil spring 42 surrounding said stem. As the bottle 10slides onto the cradle, the neck end thereof strikes the buffer 40,thereby cushioningthe blow of the bottle and bringing it to an easystop. The spring 42 may be compressed to a certain extent by the weightof the bottle and will, therefore, assist it ejecting the bottle andpushing or throwing it to an upright position on the conveyor as thecradle swings downward. The tension of the spring 42 is adjustable bymeans of nuts 43 on the threaded stem 41. The buffer 40 is adapted forbottles of various sizes, as indicated by the broken line circles 10 and10 (Fig. 3).

Modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a horizontally moving conveyor, of mechanism fortransferring articles thereto and placing them 1n upright positionthereon, comprislng an inclined chute, a cradle to receive articles,

from said chute, said cradle being tiltable from receiving positiondownward to a discharging position by the weight of the article thereon,a support actuated by said tilting of the cradle, into position tosupport said article in upright position as it is discharged onto theconveyor, and automatic means to move said support out of the path ofsaid article after the latter is placed on the conveyor.

2. A transfer device comprising a pivotally mounted support having asupporting surface extending in an upwardly inclined direction from itspivot, said support operable by the weight of an article placed thereonto tilt downward about its pivot and discharge said article, automaticmeans to return the support after the article is discharged, and avertically disposed stop operated by said tilting movement of thesupport into position to engage said article as it is discharged.

3. The combination of a conveyor, means for placing an article in anupright position on the conveyor, and a vertically disposed supportoperable by the weight of said article and automatically moved intoposimesses tion to su port the article and prevent it from topp ing overas it is discharged onto the conveyor.

4;. The combination of a horizontally traveling conveyor, means to placearticles in upright position thereon, a vertically disposed stop, meansoperated by the weight of the article to move said stop into position tosu art the article and prevent it from topp mg over as it is placed onthe conveyor and means to then retract said stop and permit the articleto travel with the conveyor.

5. The combination of a horizontally traveling conveyor, a bottlesetting up device by which bottles are placed in an upright position onthe conveyor, and a vertically disposed stop moved by said setting updevice in front of the bottle as it is placed on the conveyor to preventtipping of the bottle and then movable by said device out of the path ofthe bottle.

6. A transfer device comprising in com bination, sides arranged at anangle to form a trough, overlapping ends secured to said sides andprovided with openings, and a clamping bolt extending through saidopenings, one of the openings being elongated todpermit relative angularadjustment of the s1 es.

7. A transfer device comp-rising an inclined tilting cradle, means todischarge articles endwise onto said cradle, and a spring bufier at thelower end of the cradle to arrest the articles on said cradle, thecradle being tiltable to discharge the articles endwise in the reversedirection.

8. The combination of an inclined trough,

an inclined cradle arranged beyond the lower end of the trough inposition to receive articles discharged from the trough, and a springbuffer at the lower end of the cradle in the path of said articles, thecradle being tiltable to swing the end adjacent to the trough downwardto a discharging position.

9. The combination of a conveyor, means to place an article in anupright position thereon, and a support operable by the weight of saidarticle and automatically moved into position to support the article andprevent it from toppling over as it is discharged on the conveyor.

Signed at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, this 4th dayof Febru- LEQNARD soUBrEn.

